Xmas will be here soon, although I’m slightly worried the reindeers will either drown or suffer terribly from heat exhaustion. Remember to leave some craft beer out for them, no dog…I mean Tararua biscuits! Please save your silly season stuff for the Xmas parties in town. Plan your outdoor adventures carefully and make considered decisions. It’s not just a matter of being organised although that will certainly help. Flexibility is also important. Remember the weather doesn’t know about your plans but thanks to forecasting and your own observation skills you should be able to form a view on what the weather is up to – plan and make decisions to fit in with the weather. Plan also to accommodate the skills and fitness of your party, that way you’ll all have a greater chance of a fun time and returning home safely.
This month we had our second Club PLB call out. You can read about it in Mike’s Chief Guide column. Every time one of our PLBs is used we review what happened. We are satisfied that the decision to activate the beacon in this instance was consistent with Club policy. WTMC encourages people to carry PLBs on tramps as a backup. There was an incident recently where some trampers had a PLB registered to them but decided to leave the device in their car at the road end. Consequently when they were reported overdue, a search for them was delayed as rescuers thought the trampers would set off the PLB if they required urgent assistance. There are two tramping items you should never leave in the car park – the PLB you have taken out from our gear room/have registered to you (if you own one) and spare chocolate bars. The former has the potential to save your life but only if you have it with you. The latter will melt in the car rendering it shapeless, white and worst of all, inedible.
November was a good month for the mountaineering side of WTMC after a very unsettled start to spring weather. Congratulations to the climbing Mikes who scaled Elie de Beaumont (3109m) and Mt Green (2837m) in Mt Cook NP. Sensibly, given the snow conditions and avalanche risk they passed up the opportunity to climb Mt Walter or linger in any crevasses. Around the same time Debbie and Stephen climbed Mt Olliver (1993m) and most of Mt Kitchener (2024m) in the Mueller Glacier area. In the first week of November Mike S, DJ and myself were fortunate enough to be in the right place when the weather cleared and we were able to climb the Footstool (2764m) from Sefton Biv just above Mt Cook Village. Of course many fabulous tramping trips took place over the same period. In fact a record number of families and other trampers had a fantastic Guy Fawkes celebration at Paua Hut. I’m only mentioning these climbs because November is the main window for mountaineering in NZ.
Speaking of tramping, it has been a bit of a struggle to secure trip leaders for the Summer Schedule although I understand there has been a last minute rush to volunteer which is great, we’ll take late over never! If you forgot to sign up to lead a trip it is never too late to
contact Debbie or Mike P and volunteer your services. We can add trips at any time and we would really love to run as many as we can, we are after all a tramping club!
Sue our Social Convenor is after some more slideshows to fill the Wednesday nights in 2014 – something to remember when you are tramping over Xmas. You can book a slot now by going onto the website and making a note in the google document or just talk to Sue at the clubrooms. Wednesday night slideshows and other entertainment has been fabulous this year, it would be great to keep the momentum going into next year. Don’t forget to hang around after the slideshow and come to the Hop Garden for a beer or three, this is a great way to find out all the gossip, wind down, and plan more trips without worrying about whether you’ve remembered the PLB.
2014 is going to be a year of change for WTMC with a few key Committee members stepping aside so that others can take on leadership roles. We have plenty of spots available for members who want to take up the challenge of helping ensure the club is well run and meets member needs. If you’re considering helping out just have a chat with a committee member face to face or by email. Sue is a great person to talk to if you are at the clubrooms. You also can email me at . I’ve been on the committee for three years; it is a great way to acquire new skills and meet lots of great people. We have a wide variety of jobs to suit just about anyone’s interests and preferences.
Finally, I hope you enjoy reading the Club Journal over the Xmas break. A big thanks to Colin Bouttell for proof reading the club journal. More than anything else, bar the annual report of course, the Club Journal captures the essence of WTMC in pictures and words. I hope you’ll share it with your friends and family so they can better understand the joys of tramping and mountaineering. Have a great break folks and I’ll see you for some fresh adventures in 2014.